"Hello, mister," the voice called out, high and fragile, a note of innocence ringed with fear. It seemed to drift from somewhere, threading like a chill down his spine.
Every muscle tensed. In one smooth motion, Sezel's hand flew to the katana's hilt, eyes flicking side to side, searching every shadow.
Though his brain screamed at him to shout it as a warning, he held his breath—waiting, listening. Something else was here, something that might, for the first time since entering the Gate, speak as he did and not simply try to kill him.
And the biggest yet reason, Sezel could understand it, the voice spoke in his language.
The question now wasn't just who or what had called out, but if, in this place, a voice like that could be trusted at all.
He searched every crevice, but the corridor seemed impossibly empty, there was nothing or rather no one around him.
"Please, help me," the voice called again, closer now, desperation rising from somewhere up ahead, it led him further down the corridor.
He followed, with tensed muscles, one hand fixed on the katana ready to strike any moment. With wide eyes, he continued, every step deliberate and measured, not even letting the dust on the tiles below stir.
He didn't get far before danger found him. Without warning, a massive Fanged Serpent lunged from behind a pillar, jaw tearing the air, venom gleaming. Sezel had no time for thought, only for survival. His katana flashed—the blade cleaved the reptile from jaw to tail in a precise movement, spraying black blood across his cheeks.
"Ew," he hissed, wiping the slick warmth away with his sleeve, forcing down his revulsion.
[Congratulations, you have slain a Fanged Serpent]
Before his breath calmed, another one showed up, crawling on the ground with astounding speed, and jumped as it neared Sezel. He swung the sword, but his balance broke, feet skating on the sticky blood already cooling on the floor. He crashed to the ground with a grunt.
The serpent just in front of him, without a moment's delay he swiftly rolled aside from the snake's line of action and scrambled back on his feet. The serpent too coiled back and lunged again.
This time the blade caught the serpent's head, cleaving it mid-snarl. 'Damn these things are relentless.'
[Congratulations, you have slain a Fanged Serpent]
Sezel proceeded to absorb the cores from the dead beasts and then stood up again. He wanted to ask, to speak but the fear kept him from. He pressed forward in silence, the girl's voice his only guide.
The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly, the darkness tightening with every step. Now and then, the child's plea rang out, faint and desperate, always just barely close enough to keep hope alive.
"Please, help me." It repeated, Sezel immediately turned to his left, gasping. He gulped through his dry throat. There was a way from between two rooms, a thin alley-like space.
Sezel forced himself into the tunnel. The passage curved, opening suddenly into a wide, open chamber—lined with barred cells.
"A Jail?" Sezel's lips parted in astonishment. He was standing in between a prison, with cells all around, their bars rusted, the air thick with dust and metallic debris.
"Here, mister." the words were clear and much closer than before. Sezel's gaze darted, inspecting each and every cell around, his breath heaving.
In one of the cells, near the other edge, Sezel saw a humanoid figure, hidden in the dark shadows behind the bars. The figure stumbled forth, near the rusted bars, Sezel's hand reflexively reached out for his katana.
But his eyes widened with shock and disbelief the moment he noticed the figure clearly, it was a girl, around the age of 12 or 13, a kid, fragile and waifish, skin like fresh bone, hair long and white as snow, her clothes were dirty and old, a rug basically as if she had run from some mental hospital.
Sezel's mind reeled, "What is a kid doing in such a place?" his heart quailed—the sight of her was a knife twist, she was trembling, her face was streaked with silent tears.
Sezel's mind questioned himself, he was in the Spirit Realm, can anyone or anything be trusted here? Was what he seeing in front of his eyes even true?
But his heart said otherwise, he saw himself in the poor girl, he gulped hard, straightening and relaxing his muscles.
"Please… help me, mister." the girl cried, her voice broken beneath the fear of this Realm.
Sezel exhaled sharply, "How did you come here, kid?" he asked, voice slow.
"I...I don't know." she stammered, gasping between sobs, "They threw me into a hole and when I opened my eyes I was here."
Sezel squinted his eyes, 'They?' The word chilled him. He wanted to ask everything, who, how, why—but forced himself to ask what mattered most now. "How did you see me from in here? Beyond all those walls?"
"I can't see anything," she whispered. "It's too dark. But… I sensed someone." Her head hung in defeat.
"Sensed?"
She nodded, voice barely a breath. "There's a… red light around you."
Sezel's breath hitched, 'Red light?'
Suddenly the girl trembled ferociously, clutching her hands, "It's coming," she whimpered. "It's coming this way." before collapsing to her knees.
Sezel instinctively reached to the cell, he couldn't help it. He saw himself in the poor girl and there was no way he was leaving her behind.
Just as she said, footsteps echoed through the air, still distant. Sezel alerted, hastily checking for something to open the cell.
It was locked by a rusted lock. Sezel hit it with the back of his katana a few times, but the lock didn't break or even crack. Failed, he unsheathed his katana and tried slashing it, but that too failed.
"Tsk," he gritted his teeth, "Open goddam bastard." his heart shuddering faster as the footsteps neared, hammering like a drum.
Suddenly, as if to crown his fear, Sezel's assessment device buzzed, blaring in the quiet like a siren call to death.
The steps paused, then marched on, closer and closer and now Sezel could feel it, the red-scythed beast was coming towards him and it was much closer than it ever had been.